Chain sand-dredge.



No. 775,686. PATENTED NOV. 22; 1904. E. SMITH.

CHAIN SAND DREDGE.

APPLICATION FILED NOV. 16, 1903.

N0 MODEL.

UNITED STATES Patented November 22, 1904.

ROSELL SMITH, OF LEBANON, INDIANA.

CHAIN SAND-DREDGE.

SPECIFICATION formingpart of Letters Patent No. 775,686, dated November 22, 1904.

Application filed November 16, 1903- Serial No. 181,394. (No model.)

A To all whom, it may concern:

Be it known that I, RosELL SMITH, of Lebanon, county of Boone, and State of Indiana, have invented a certain new and useful Chain Sand-Dredge; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description thereof, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, in which like figures refer to like parts.

The object of this invention is to improve the construction and arrangement of an apparatus for excavating sand, gravel, or the like by means of a dredging-chain.

To that end one improvement consists in mounting an endless dredging-chain on stationary means at one end and on a movable means or vehicle at the other end, whereby by slightly movingthe latter the bottom of the dredging-chain may be elevated or lowered to suit the work from time to time.

Another feature consists in mounting said chain on means that is laterally movable without taking up the whole apparatus, whereby the chain may be moved laterally somewhat to widen the scope of its work from time to time.

The full nature of the invention will be understood from the following description and claims.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a side elevation of the apparatus, showing a water-filled gravel-pit in vertical section. Fig. 2 is a plan view of the means at the right-hand end of Fig. 1 for carrying the chain. Fig. 3 is a perspective view of a portion of the chain. Fig. 4 is a plan view of a portion of a link with a bucket secured thereto.

In detail, represents a gravel-pit, and 11 water that has collected therein.

An endless chain is formed of links 12, carrying-buckets 13, that are held by two oppositely-located means, so that one side of the chain will sag and as it is drawn across the bottom of the gravel-pit will enable the buckets to carry up gravel from the pit. Said chain is supported and carried at the righthand end of the sprocket-wheel 15, mounted on the shaft 16 at the top of the ladder 17. Said ladder is weighted at the bottom by the weight 18 and at the top rests loosely on the cross-bar 19 between the posts 20, that are-reinforced by the braces 21. Said ladder is laterally movable to any desired position on the cross-bar 19. The posts 20 are mounted stationary at one side of the gravel-pit. At the other side of the gravel-pit I mount an engine within a house 26 on wheels 27, supported by'the track 28. A platform 29 extends rearward from the house for carrying the shaft 30 and the sprocket-wheel 31, which supports one end of the chain 12. The sprocket-wheel is driven by the pulley 32 and belt 33 from the engine. The dredging-chain is moved by this means in the direction indicated by the arrow. That keeps the top of the dredging-chain substantially straight horizontally and permits the bottom of the chain to sag.

As the pit grows deeper and deeper, it is necessary for the means on which the two sprocket-wheels are mounted to be brought closer together in order to permit increased sagging, or the chain may be lengthened by inserting more links. For this reason it is desirable that one end of the chain be mounted on means movable longitudinally of the chain, and therefore the engine is mounted on wheels and on a track extending longitudinally of the chain. It is desirable also that the chain have considerable lateral scope of adjustment in order to remove a greater amount of gravel without changing the plant. Therefore it is desirable that the chain be mounted on means laterally movable readily without changing the position of the plant. These objects are attained by the means just described.

In order that the chain may be readily lenghtened or shortened, I make it up of links similar in" form, all being hooked into each other, but each link having one end and two sides, so that it is open at one end. At the two corners of a link there are notches 35. The ends of the sides of the link are provided with hooks 36 to engage the notches in the preceding link. These notches keep the sides of the link in position so they can move to- .ward each other.

The bucket 13 is secured within the link by the rivets 37 through recessed portions 38 in the side bars of the link. With this arrangement the bucket is permanently secured, and since all of the links are alike they may be arranged in any desired manner, bucket-links being removed or inserted at pleasure; By securing the buckets in place with rivets with heads that are embedded in recesses in the links, so that the heads are not cut off by the abrasion of the sand and gravel as the chain is drawn through the same.

What I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. The combination of an endless dredgingchain, wheels for carrying the ends of said chain, a laterally-slidable means on which one of said wheels is mounted, means on which the other of said wheels is mounted that is movable longitudinally of the chain, and means for driving one of said wheels.

2. In a chain sand-dredge, a chain formed of links, the sides of some of which are at cer- ROSELL SMITH.

Witnesses:

V. H. LooKWooD, NELLIE ALLEMONG. 

